What LG’s acquisition of webOS means for its open source projects

HP isn't completely abandoning webOS.

LG announced yesterday that it would be acquiring webOS from HP to use in LG smart televisions. The company has inherited all of the rights to the source code for webOS, including documentation and engineers, as well as all of its related websites. But what about projects like Open webOS and webOS Ports?

As we now know, the cloud services division of webOS will remain at HP, along with some of the related patents, while LG gets the rest. Martin Risau, senior vice president of webOS for HP, told Ars that from here on out, “LG is totally free to do whatever they want to do” to integrate webOS however it sees fit.

“Open source will be alive and well at LG," added Sam Chang, vice president of Smart TV at LG. "We think that’s a really important part of this transaction. When you think about the loyal development community out there and the need for a robust ecosystem to support smart TV, it’s really a perfect fit.” Of course, LG will have to make changes to webOS to optimize it for use with a remote.

Risau told us that the company will continue working on the free JavaScript application framework Enyo because “it benefits both companies." Chang added that, “We do believe both open source and Web technology is the best way to minimize fragmentation and enable cross-connectivity to multiple devices." Interestingly enough, Open webOS had initially been established by HP to further the development of the operating system, in spite of a lack of dedicated hardware.

It’s important to note that this acquisition isn't a total surprise to either HP or LG. A version of Open webOS, called the Professional Edition, had been circulating around back in October 2012, when webOS Nation first reported on rumors that LG would be making a webOS-enabled TV. Its success would require a serious investment in applications—ones that could be made with Enyo. The apps would need to include services like Netflix, CinemaNow, Pandora, and Vudu, which are all available on almost every set-top box, and natively on TVs from rival companies like Samsung. HP intends to stay involved in the development of Enyo, citing its relevance to its app catalog.

When asked about LG's acquisition of webOS, Tom King, project leader for webOS Ports, was excited and optimistic. "They reached out right away and said, ‘nothing’s changed, you’re still dealing with the same people… we’ll still be interacting with you guys and making this happen.’ I take that as a very positive step,” he explained. “It appeared from my reading that Open webOS is still going to be an open source project that they’re actively going to contribute to and participate in. I’m encouraged that we've got a new driver.”

Update: This article has been edited to add that HP will only continue to work on the Enyo framework. Ars regrets the error.

It would be to LG's advantage to keep it all open. If for some reason WebOS on the TV is a hit. They're in the business of selling commodity electronics. If buying WebOS helps and pays off by getting people to buy more TV from them with Netflix service already installed then so be it. Or something better like a commercial display that you can network.

No, No, NO, NO! The worst thing that can happen to any software is being owned by an Asian company. They're going to make it a closed, propietary platform and go lawsuit-happy to anyone that dares try using it/developing it.

LG are arguably the best of a bad bunch when it comes to smart TV's. They care about the UI & they occasionally update the OS and apps provided on the TV's which puts them ahead of the competition, that's how bad things are.

LG also dabbled with GoogleTV but for whatever reasons GoogleTV just hasn't been gaining traction.

I suspect the WebOS acquisition is an attempt to stave off the inevitable Apple smart TV giving them a more unified platform so consumers don't have to update to next years model just to get a certain application which is currently the norm for many smart TV's.

However for openness LG are not a good company, they've been known to legally threaten hackers who have been trying to pry open their current smart TV platform.

No, No, NO, NO! The worst thing that can happen to any software is being owned by an Asian company. They're going to make it a closed, propietary platform and go lawsuit-happy to anyone that dares try using it/developing it.

That lead image would look right with a 40" TV just to the right of the Touchpad. Just keep scaling up...

Sixclaws wrote:

No, No, NO, NO! The worst thing that can happen to any software is being owned by an Asian company. They're going to make it a closed, propietary platform and go lawsuit-happy to anyone that dares try using it/developing it.

I think you're confusing Asian with Apple. I know, five letters, starts with A....

Interesting move. It seemed to me that LG was doubling down on Google TV with the recent announcement of the **GA7900 sets. I was genuinely interested in getting the 55" version but now this makes me start to second guess that. With so much capital invested in this new OS I can't imagine that Google TV is going to get much attention from them going forward. Does anyone know if the LG implementation of GTV is a fork that is going to be upgraded by LG or does Google have the power to push updates directly? I thought that Google always claimed that they controlled the updates (like on their Nexus devices) but it seems like LG modded the front end a bit. If updates don't come directly from Google I think that's a deal breaker for me.

WebOS was designed for square screens of about 4 inches big held 12 inches away from you, manipulated by touch and displaying text at approximately 10pt.

A TV on the other hand is none of these things. 32 inch, widescreen, 40 foot UI, manipulated by a remote control and presenting text at 36+ points.

Whatever comes out of LGs UI and UX team will probably look nothing like the WebOS people remember - and anything which might, will probably have been re-skinned to the point that, it to, is unrecognisable.

No, No, NO, NO! The worst thing that can happen to any software is being owned by an Asian company. They're going to make it a closed, propietary platform and go lawsuit-happy to anyone that dares try using it/developing it.

LG would have been smarter just to use a Android-compatible variant like BlackBerry, Amazon, Nook, etc.It would have at least meant a larger developer base rather than the dead-end Enyo. But if LG is willing to spend the money for a worthless technology more power to them.

I've got a Samsung Smart TV 2012 model. I really like the interface, but it has it's problems. When you go to the store and see the different interfaces on Internet-connected TVs, none of the interfaces really stand out and all of them work differently and look differently. Nobody has set a standard for Smart TV interfaces.

It would be nice to see LG position WebOS as the TV OS of the future. One that is open for all to use on any manufacturer set and where apps can be written once and used across a wide range of WebOS products (developers dream).

Florence Ion / Florence was a former Reviews Editor at Ars, with a focus on Android, gadgets, and essential gear. She received a degree in journalism from San Francisco State University and lives in the Bay Area.